One of my seaberries has berries on it for the first time. I have never eaten an actual seaberry before. How do I know when they are ripe?

Thu Sep 05, 2013 11:12 am

John S

Joined: Sun May 15, 2005 10:57 amPosts: 1406Location: Portland, OR

Re: First Seaberries

Hi Dave,I think they should be ripe now. They do require a bit more tug than most berries. You can taste one. Some people don't like the taste. I like it. They have a powerful flavor. You kind of need to like tart. I could tell that mmine were starting to fall off/dry up, so I ate them. They won't dry up in the weather we have right now!John SPDX OR

...Ripe berries will give when squeezed, rubbery but not soft; try eating one--it should be juicy and lemon-tart. If there is no sign of shriveling you can wait on them to change color...

larry_gene lives in Portland and grew seaberries for years and made tasty and nutritious juice from them. I think he is a member of this forum as well and is very friendly and helpful with advice.

Mon Sep 09, 2013 12:55 pm

John S

Joined: Sun May 15, 2005 10:57 amPosts: 1406Location: Portland, OR

Re: First Seaberries

Jeg can ikke snakke Finsk.

I talked to those pretty French girls harvesting the berries in the video and I think they said they cut them out of the bush with scissors. I decided to marry one of those pretty gardener French girls. I have not only cut them out with scissors, sometimes I just bite them out of the tree. Don't tell my French wife because I might get in trouble. If you try to grab them with your hands, they squirt and get messy. I'm talking about the berrries here, people!:)John SPDX OR

Dave, how long have you been growing your seaberries? I ask because I just planted a female (botanica) and a male this spring and I'm wondering about how long they take before they fruit. Some sites say 2-3 years, but I've also heard of a local arboretum that hasn't gotten any berries in 5 years. I imagine that could be due to pollination issues, since you need a male and since they need to be wind pollinated as well. Actually, on the subject of pollination, has anyone ever tried hand pollination of seaberries?

Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:28 am

John S

Joined: Sun May 15, 2005 10:57 amPosts: 1406Location: Portland, OR

Re: First Seaberries

I haven't ever needed to, they pollinate themselves via the wind, as long as you have male and female.

Mine didn't fruit this year because I put them into pots and almost killed them due to lack of water in our long hot summer.JohN SPDX OR

Sun Sep 15, 2013 10:09 am

davem

Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 9:45 pmPosts: 103Location: Camas, Washington

Re: First Seaberries

I bought them as 1-gallon plants 2 years ago (male & female). I only had about 12 berries so I just squished them into a glass of fruit juice - delicious!

They grow pretty fast, the largest one is about 5 feet tall x 4 feet wide.

Mon Sep 16, 2013 8:11 am

davem

Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 9:45 pmPosts: 103Location: Camas, Washington

Re: First Seaberries

Could one of you seaberry/sea buckthorn experts post your recipe for juice? Online I saw several saying you mix equal parts raw juice and sugar but that seems like a lot of sugar...

I'll be picking my berries in the next few days.

I also ate some evergreen huckleberries today, they are really good. Just wish they were a little bigger.

Mon Sep 01, 2014 11:06 pm

jafarj

Joined: Fri Feb 09, 2007 1:21 pmPosts: 428Location: SW Washington

Re: First Seaberries

Dave,

I have little experience with them, but my understanding is that the fruit has a pretty strong flavor, so like cranberries, they are diluted quite a bit with water and sweetened.

So as a concentrate, the 1:1 ratio with sugar doesn't sound as crazy. Also, there is a great range in preference for how sweet drinks should be. It seems like it should be pretty straightforward to experiment with sugar to juice ratio to get what you prefer.

If you want help, I'm happy to taste!

Fri Sep 05, 2014 3:59 pm

John S

Joined: Sun May 15, 2005 10:57 amPosts: 1406Location: Portland, OR

Re: First Seaberries

Hi Dave M,I agree with Jafar on this one. Each person should adjust to his taste. For example, he prefers European plums (too sugary for me) and I prefer Asian plums (too sour for him). Sometimes instead of adding sugar, one can add another whole food, which will obviously be much healthier than adding sugar. For example, instead of adding sugar to black tea or green tea, I add red hibiscus tea, which is sweet and tart, and then the bitterness doesn't bother me.

I add orange juice to aronia berries, blend them and then it is a delicious fruit shake.john SPDX OR

Sun Sep 07, 2014 9:42 pm

davem

Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 9:45 pmPosts: 103Location: Camas, Washington

Re: First Seaberries

Thanks for the tips. So far I have been just eating them whole. They do have quite a strong taste, but not unpleasant. It is hard to eat more than 2-3 at a time though, they are quite powerful.

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